


Dirty Little Secret

by BriMarie



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: 18+, Enemies With Benefits, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Jealousy, Lemon, Longing, Nini Salazar roberts - Freeform, Pining, Ricky Bowen Being an Idiot (HSMTMTS), Ricky Bowen Loves Nini Salazar-Roberts, Rivalry, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, Smut, high school musical the musical the series - Freeform, hsmtmts, ricky bowen - Freeform, rini - Freeform, seniors in high school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:53:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26437495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: In public, Nini and Ricky were sworn enemies who'd find anyway to bicker with each other, but behind closed doors they'd find anyway to make the other scream their name. But when does passionate hatred and lust slowly become something more?*Rini smut/fluff*
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 8
Kudos: 107





	Dirty Little Secret

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes it took me like a week to write this and I'm too lazy to read through it rn. I'll edit if I find anything. Everyone is 18 btw. Anyways, enjoy this slow burn smut/fluff.

"I can't wait for practice to be over."

Nini raises her brow. "Carlos, we haven't even started yet."

"Yeah I know, but I have a date with Seb after this so I want it to be over already."

"Well I promise I'll try to keep it under an hour."

The other teammates all cheer. Nini was the captain of the East High soccer team, which consisted of her closest friends: Gina, Ashlyn, and Carlos. Kourtney liked to tag along to just watch claiming it was more entertaining than laying around at home.

Today, she only wanted to practice with her friends despite it not being a practice day and grouped them all up. (She promised to pay for dinner after practice as compensation).

Her teammates all walked towards the field but stopped when they saw that it was already taken. Nini saw a head of bushy curls from the distance and knew exactly who it was. Ashlyn looked over at Nini and saw she had that scornful face she makes when she sees Ricky.

Nini puts aside her soccer ball and storms up to him.

Gina sighs. "Here we go."

Carlos sits down in the grass. "I already know this'll be a while."

The other three join him on the ground as they watch Nini walk with a purpose.

Nini and Ricky have been sworn enemies since middle school. Ricky had put gum in her hair as a dare back in 7th grade, and she broke his favorite skateboard as payback. They haven't stopped trying to make each other's lives a living hell since then.

Nini only had tunnel vision for the snarky lacrosse team captain; she didn't even notice she was walking into a danger zone.

She was lucky enough to not get hit when she finally tapped his shoulder aggressively. He was shocked to see her standing there in the middle of a lacrosse practice.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, you can actually. Wanna explain why your team is on the field when I already asked the coach for this slot?"

He pretended to think about it. "Hmm nah I don't really wanna explain."

He turned his attention back to the practice, but she shoved his arm causing him to look back at her. "You're still here?"

"Of course I'm still here! You and your team need to leave until we're done since we had this spot first! Now go!"

"Look, my coach said we could practice here today at this time, therefore I technically have just as much of a right being here as you do princess."

"Well find somewhere else to practice! I heard the local park's field is lovely!"

"If it's so lovely, why don't you go over there?"

"Because I want to practice here!"

"Well you can't always get what you want Nina! The Rolling Stones made a whole song about it. You should go check it out. Maybe that'll be a nice life lesson for you."

She felt a vein bulge from her head, and she can feel her face warming up from anger.

"God Ricky, you're such a stubborn dick!"

He stepped a little closer to her. "Well you're a tenacious bitch!"

"Oh wow, tenacious is a pretty big word for you. Did you start advancing your vocabulary?"

They continued to bicker to the point where the lacrosse team ended up sitting next to the soccer team watching their captains have a battle of wits. They were used to this by now, and yet it was always amusing to watch the pair go at it.

Kourtney pulled out a bag of popcorn and shared it with the teams. Gina leaned over to Ashlyn.

"How long do you think they're gonna yell at each other today?"

"I'm thinking they might break their record of ten minutes. It seems like it's getting pretty heated."

"I'll start my timer."

(They end up bantering for well over ten minutes, and neither captains notice most of their team left the field a while ago).

***

Nini firmly rested her palms onto the wall in front of her trying her best to cover her moans by biting her lip. Ricky stood behind her pulling her ponytail with one hand while the other held her hip in place as he slid in and out of her.

She accidentally hits one of the brooms in the janitor's closet causing it to hit the ground, but they didn't let that stop them. They'd let out the occasional noise but tried to keep it down. Deciding he wanted to hear her sounds of pleasure, he moves the hand that was previously on her hip down to her clit.

He's become an expert with her body and what she likes over the past few months, so it didn't shock him when she began quivering and letting out breathy moans at his touch. He leaned into her body resting his head in the crook of her neck as he played with her and pounded her.

He smirks when he sees how hard she's trying not to be loud and decided to tease her about it. "Be quiet; someone will hear us."

She gave him a side eye making him snicker. She's throwing her head back, which he knows means she's about to finish. He speeds up his pace on her clit as the other hand slithered around her neck.

"Mmm."

He always loved watching her climax since she had the loveliest facial expression. A few pumps later, she comes undone releasing a low grunt instead of her usual hearty moan. He finishes a little bit after her, and they both are out of breath by the time they're done.

She checks her timer and noticed it was counting down from one minute. She detached herself from him and began putting on her clothes.

"First period is about to start. You should get dressed."

He let out a sigh as he pulled on his t-shirt. "You know it probably wasn't the best idea to do this before first period. Now we're all tired and sweaty."

She huffed and put her hands on her hips. "You're the one who pulled me into a janitor's closet!"

"Well it's not like you were resisting sweetheart."

As he walked pass her, he lightly slapped her ass causing her to jump a bit. He peeked out of the door to see if anyone was walking by and noticed the hall was still empty.

"The coast is clear; come on."

They both quickly left the closet making sure there was no trace of their escapade left behind. They looked at each other, and Ricky smirked when he saw how swollen her lips were and the red marks he left on her lower neck.

She scrunched her brows and gave him an annoyed face. "What're you looking at Bowen?"

He scanned her up and down. "Just admiring the number I did on you."

She makes a face of disgust. "Gross."

"You didn't think that when I was sucking on your pulse point. Matter of fact..." He licked his lips at the memory. "I'm pretty sure you were begging for more."

She blushes madly. "S-shut up!"

The bell rings giving her a reason to walk away. She turns on her heel and begins walking to her first period.

"I'll see you in a few hours princess." He calls after her. She just holds up her middle finger without turning back, and he chuckles. Soon after, the halls slowly began to fill up with students.

Despite hating each other for years, they did like one thing about one another, sex. A few months ago, they had been fighting over who got the piano room to themselves in the theater. This led to a full blown argument between the two where they just kept getting closer and closer until their heads were practically budding.

Neither really knows who started it, but somehow her legs are wrapped around his hips and his lips are pushed against hers. Suddenly, up is down, left is right, and this whole encounter feels like they entered some alternate universe. But _damn_ did it feel so _good._

Ever since that day in the piano room, they've been secretly hooking up in random places. Though it was never said, they both decided to keep this from their friends since they knew how much those two despised one another. They also continued to hate each other after their little hook ups as if nothing happened.

Though their relationship was odd, it worked. Neither would ever admit it to the other, but they always looked forward to the next secret session.

***

Nini and her friends had been at her lunch room table discussing their next hang out when Kourtney saw something on Nini's neck.

"Hey Neens, I think you have something on your neck."

Nini began searching for something but couldn't find whatever she was referring to. "Can you get it? I don't feel anything."

Kourtney pulled down Nini's collar a bit and gasped when she saw a huge red mark.

"Oh my god Nini, who the hell gave you that hickey?!"

That caught the attention of everyone at the table. Carlos analyzed it. "Jesus Christ, whoever did this likes you _a lot_."

Gina raises a brow as she grazed the hickey. "Is this dude a leech by any chance? Cuz that man was sucking hard."

Nini blushed as she covered up the mark. "It's not a hickey, and there is no guy!"

None of the group even tried to amuse that.

"Do you think we were born yesterday?" Seb says.

Ashlyn nods. "Yeah Neens, that's undeniably a hickey."

"It's not a hickey I swear!"

Kourtney folded her arms. "Oh really? Then what is it?"

Nini took a moment to think. "It's a...rash? Yeah, a rash from...this cheap foundation I bought."

"So you're going with the old rash excuse?" Kourtney says.

"It's not an excuse if it's the truth."

"So who do you guys think gave her that hickey? I'm betting on Steven from calc. I've seen them give flirtatious smiles every once in a while." Carlos says completely ignoring Nini's statement.

Gina shook her head. "Nah, it's definitely Ethan from Nini and I's bio class. They always have the cutest little convos when we do group work."

"You guys, I'm literally right here." Nini waved her hands to signal her presence.

"No, it can't be Ethan. I'm betting it's someone from our history class. Like that Aidan guy." Seb added.

Nini sighed helplessly. "I feel more ignored than celery in a wing platter."

The bell for the next period rang, which was a free period for Nini that she usually spent at the library or theater.

When they left the lunchroom together, she gets a text.

_Ricky: How does the locker room sound to you right now?_

She blushed but tried to hide it since she was around her friends.

"Hey Neens, are you coming?" Kourtney asked.

"Oh uh I think I'm gonna go to the library today. Have fun in theater though."

She waved her friends goodbye before walking to the gym. She shoots Ricky a quick text.

_I'll be there in 5._

***

Every Thursday, the soccer team would practice right after the football team. Usually some of the soccer team would sit in the bleachers during the last 15 minutes of football practice. Nini didn't mind this one bit especially when one of the players had caught her eye, EJ Caswell.

She wouldn't go as far as saying she had a crush on the guy, but she wasn't blind to his beauty. She's never attempted to approach him because he didn't seem like he'd be into her, and he happened to be one of her friend's cousin.

But that didn't mean she couldn't admire him from the distance. EJ ran to the sidelines to pull off his shirt and pour some water over himself. She squirmed in her seat as she watched the eye candy in front of her. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Good god, that man can kick me and I'd say thank you." Carlos fanned himself.

Nini laughed. "I feel you."

The coach blew the whistle signaling football practice is over. Nini was quick to get up and approach the field. She liked to get a closer look right before he left and thankfully he had been walking right by her.

They accidentally meet eyes, and he smiled. She had to stop herself from melting. He began walking up to her, and she internally panicked.

"Nini right?"

"Uh yeah."

"Hi, I'm EJ. Not sure if you know me."

"Oh I most definitely know you. I'm pretty sure the whole school knows you."

"I guess you're kinda right." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I see you practice sometimes."

"Oh really? Hopefully you didn't see me last week. I totally busted my ass."

"No, but I did see you have a little sparring match with that curly headed lacrosse kid."

Nini grimaced at the mention of her enemy.

"I've seen you play a few times too, and you're pretty good."

Nini bit her lip. "You think so?"

"No doubt about it. I'd even go as far as to say you're the star player."

"Now you're just lying."

"No I mean it! You're amazing."

Nini's face heated up. "You're pretty great too."

EJ smiled. "Thanks."

The football coach blew their whistle again. "Caswell, quit flirting and get over here!"

"That's my cue, but it was nice talking to you Nini. Hopefully we can talk longer some other time."

"Yeah you too!"

He gives her one last look over before jogging over to the rest of the team.

She watches him leave until he turns into a little dot. She couldn't believe he even approached someone like her. She couldn't stop smiling.

When she turned around, she saw her friends all looking at her with knowing looks or smug faces.

Gina mockingly makes kissing faces at her while the others all join. Nini playfully rolls her eyes and kicks the ball towards her friends. 

***

The one period she shared with Ricky was unfortunately music. She loved music class; it was always right behind theater for her. But this year, Ricky had been placed in her class making it her least favorite subject. Leave it up to him to drain the fun out of something she loves.

Thankfully, the chairs were aligned in alphabetical order, so he was on the opposite side of the room. But that didn't stop them from bickering. After all, it was a small room with a class of 20.

"Alright class, today we will be talking about what qualities make a good vocalist. I want one of you to give me a vocalist and why you believe they qualify."

Nini holds up her hand eagerly. The teacher gladly points at her. "Nini, please share your thoughts."

"I think that Sir Elton John is the one of the best vocalist of our time. He has a great vocal range and can play the piano as a plus."

A loud scoff came from the other side of the room. Nini rolled her eyes knowing who it was.

"Mr. Bowen, do you have something you'd like to share?"

"Yes I do actually." He peers over at Nini challengingly. "Freddie Mercury is the superior vocalist over Elton, and by the way playing instruments doesn't make you a better vocalist. Impressive sure, but it doesn't affect your vocal talents."

Nini scowled at him. "Well Ricky, though I love Freddie you have to admit that Elton was the blueprint before Freddie came along."

"Maybe so, but just because he was first doesn't mean he's better. Also, Queen had way more of a cultural impact than Elton. Under pressure? Classic. We Will Rock You? Iconic. Bohemian Rhapsody? A literal power ballad."

Nini clenches her jaw. "Hits don't make you a better vocalist either! And you're saying it as if Elton didn't also let out multiple hits. Besides, Freddie could never write or pull off something like Bennie and the Jets or Tiny Dancer."

Ricky huffed. "What's writing gotta do with being a good vocalist? And also Freddie absolutely can pull off both of those songs. Hell, he probably could sing it better than Elton, and that's on that."

"Of course you'd think that. After all, you have a brain the size of a golf ball."

They both gave each other a stern look and the class could feel the rising tension between the two. The teacher cleared her throat. "Okay, thank you Ricky and Nini. I think we've heard two very good points, but it's time to give the spotlight to someone else. Anybody else have a person in mind?" She asks hopefully.

Another kid raises their hand and the rest of the class moves on from their little feud, but that didn't mean the dueling pair did. They glared each other down from across the room mouthing some not so kind things to each other the entire duration of class.

(He ends up blaring Under Pressure for an entire week when he's near her just to get a rise out of her).

***

He invited her to a night at the movies, and by movies he meant making out in the mostly empty parking lot in the back of the theater. And by making out he meant putting his face between her thighs in the back of his SUV until she loses her mind.

She never strips completely naked when they fuck due to them usually choosing public areas to do it. They always wore clothes that was easy to pull up and could quickly be put back on just in case they were interrupted.

So far, this has been the most naked he's seen her. She has her shirt completely off, and her skirt is lifted up to her stomach. She kept her knee high socks on, and he had to admit it was a pretty hot look for her.

She clawed into his back as he thrusted into her. After accidentally kicking a few things due to spasms, she locked her legs around his waist. She had no problem letting out loud moans since no one was around, and the cars windows were so foggy that you couldn't even see them if you tried.

She combed through his curls as she let out incoherent noises while he rocked into her giving the occasional kiss on the neck. She's about to finish, and she knows that he knows that. So when he pulls out before her orgasm, she looks at him confused.

She must've had a funny expression because he chuckled when he saw her reaction.

"What're you doing?"

He doesn't say anything. He just gives her a small smirk before crawling down her body until her legs were around his neck. The moment his tongue touched her center, she knew she was going to start spasming again.

He flicked his tongue in the way she liked and as expected her leg sprung out. She doesn't even have to look at him to know he's definitely smirking. She felt the familiar feeling coming soon and gripped his hair while her legs tightened around his head.

She lets out a satisfied moan when she finally peaked. He licked her clean as he finished himself off with his hand. He wiped his lips and rolled next to her. They never knew what to do right after they were done.

They still hated each other, so cuddling seemed awkward and talking would most likely lead to fighting. So they usually just sat there until they could catch their breath.

He turned to look at her with his smug grin. "I've never seen you squirm like that before."

She refused to meet his eyes knowing he had his little Cheshire Cat smile imprinted on his stupid ~~kinda cute~~ face.

"Don't flatter yourself."

He wants to say some snarky comeback, but he's too distracted by his sudden urge to kiss her. He rarely kissed her on the lips for too long because it somehow seemed too intimate for them.

He rest his palm on her face, which makes her look at him. He rubs his thumb on her cheekbone and trailed it to her lips. He never really payed attention before, but she was nice on the eyes. He can tell she's confused by his gesture, so he began leaning in.

Right before their lips touched, a knock came on the drivers door. They both went wide eyed as they threw their clothes at each other trying to get dressed as fast as possible. Ricky crawled up to his front seat and wiped the fog off to see who it was.

He wasn't expecting to see his best friend Big Red on the other side. Ricky turned around to Nini with a worried expression.

"It's Big Red! Hide somehow!" He whisper yelled.

She threw the blanket over her head and laid down. He turned to face the window again and rolled it down.

"Heyyyyy Red, what're you doing here?"

"I just got back from a movie with some of the lacrosse players. I happened to have parked back here too and saw your car. Why're you here?"

Ricky sucked in his cheeks, which Red knew meant he was hiding something. "I uh also just came from a movie."

"Alone?"

"Is there anything wrong with seeing a movie alone?"

"No, but _you_ hate going to the movies alone."

"You gotta get out of your comfort zone sometime."

Big Red tried to peek into the car. "Why is it so foggy?"

"Uh it's really cold?"

He mentally face palmed because it was clearly hot inside of the car, and it wasn't because of the AC.

Big Red suspiciously looked at him before he put two and two together. "Holy shit, there's a girl in the back isn't there?"

"No?"

"A guy? I mean I had my suspicions but-

"No!"

"Who're you hiding back there?"

"No one you know!"

"Hm I'm not really buying that. Is it someone embarrassing?"

"No! Go away Red. I'll talk to you later."

"Sorry, let me not ruin your little escapade with your mystery woman. Carry on."

Big Red gives him a taunting look before walking over to his car. Ricky waited until Red was completely out of the parking lot before alerting Nini.

"You can come out now."

She flung the blanket to the side and crawled over to the passengers side. He started up the car letting the fog slowly disappear before they head off. He looked over at her and saw how jacked up her hair was from the past hour and a half.

"You have a nest on your head."

She looked into the mirror and began patting down her hair. "Oh fuck me."

"Damn, begging for seconds already sweetheart? Or maybe I should say thirds?"

She rolled her eyes. "God I hate you."

"The feelings are mutual princess."

***

One of the football players named Howie had thrown a huge party at his house for no reason except the fact that he could. Howie had announced all were welcome, and many took him up on that offer.

Nini and her friends had decided to go when they realized they had never gone to a big high school party. Kourtney had demanded that she pick out Nini's outfit since EJ would most definitely be there.

She had worn a black V-neck crop top, high waist black skirt that stopped mid thigh, and knee high black boots. She felt like some off brand Catwoman, but she admitted she looked good.

The friends all disperse within the large house doing their own little things. Nini decided this was a better time than ever to search for EJ. She walks passed the stairs and sees a familiar head of curls in her side vision.

She sees Ricky making out with one of the cheerleaders on the stairs. She scrunched up her nose and felt gross after witnessing him make out with some random girl.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here."

She looks over her shoulder and notices EJ stood beside her. "Why's that?"

"I don't know; you don't seem like the type to come to one of these types of parties."

"Is that so? Then what kind of girl do you think I am?" She asks teasingly.

He takes a step closer. "I'm not sure. Why don't we get to know each other better over a movie next Friday?"

She smirked and nodded. "I'd like that."

"Great give me your number, and I'll contact you the details."

They quickly exchange numbers. Nini was about to continue the conversation but was stopped by one of EJ's pals.

"Hey dude, sorry to interrupt but there's a beer cup flipping contest downstairs, and we can't go on without our reigning champ."

He gives Nini an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I gotta..."

She waves him off. "It's fine. Duty calls. Besides, we have a whole Friday night to talk."

"You're right. I'm looking forward to it. See you Friday Nini."

"Yeah, Friday."

EJ wrapped his arm around his pal as they walked to the basement. She did a small victory dance. Kourtney and Carlos were gonna flip when they heard about this.

She looks back over where Ricky was and was taken aback he had already been looking back. The cheerleader had been kissing on his neck, but he seemed more invested in Nini.

He had an unreadable expression, and she wondered if he overheard her and EJ. It's not like it'd matter if he did. She just gave him a blank face before walking over to the kitchen not giving him a second thought. 

***

Nini was redoing her make up in her pocket mirror in Mr. Mazzara's classroom. Ricky had been pulling his pants up after their last minute quickie right before lacrosse practice.

He glanced over at her as she popped her lips after applying a fresh coat of red lipstick. He was tempted to go over there and kiss those rosy lips but resisted when another thought came to mind, EJ Caswell.

He wanted to desperately ask her what was going on between the two the night of the party, but he felt like it'd be out of place for him to ask. But it was killing him inside, so he was willing to cross a boundary.

"Hey Nini?"

She made a humming noise as a response as she continued to fix herself up.

"Can I ask you something?"

She rose a brow not used to him acting like this. "Uh, sure?"

"What's going on between you and EJ?"

She snapped her pocket mirror as she peered at him. "Why?"

He shrugged attempting to look nonchalant. "I saw you two getting pretty cozy at Howie's party last week. I was just curious what you were talking about."

"I saw you getting pretty cozy with that cheerleader that night. What's her name again? Madison? Mary? Maria?"

"Maggie."

"Doesn't matter." She hopped off Mazzara's desk. "Why are you curious what EJ and I were talking about?"

He shrugged. "I just don't think you should be talking to him."

"You have no right to tell me who to talk to. We're not friends."

"Yeah I know, but I've met plenty of jocks like him. Let's just say his track record isn't the best."

"Why are you telling me this? It's not like you care."

He wanted to rebuttal, but he wondered himself why he cared so much. They weren't dating, and it's not like they said they couldn't pursue other people.

She picked up her bag. "I'm actually meeting him after this."

Ricky balls his fist. "Where are you going?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She strutted out of the classroom.

He did a quick jog up to her and grabbed her wrist. "Is he taking you out on a date?"

She snatched her wrist from his grip and began walking towards the parking lot. "Maybe."

"What's wrong with being a little curious?"

She groans and stops walking. "You're not gonna leave me alone until I tell you are you?"

"Nope."

She rolls her eyes. "Ugh fine, we're gonna go to the movies this Friday. Now will you please let me be?"

He held up his hands in surrender and backed away a little. He watched as she walked out of the hallway. When she was out of ear shot, he whipped out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Maggie? Hey, how does a movie Friday sound to you?"

***

Nini had been more than excited about her upcoming date. So much so that she didn't get much sleep the night prior. The moment she got home from school, she took a shower and went through five outfits before choosing the right one.

It had taken her an hour to apply her makeup, and she scolded herself for not asking Kourtney to come help her. When he came to get her, he was a perfect gentleman. He even met her moms before heading out.

They didn't talk much on the way to the theater, but the ride was still comfortable as they listened to music. It was kind of like how she was when Ricky would pick her up. No talking; just his playlist in the background as they drive to whatever closed off spot he found and...oh my god ew why is she thinking about Ricky when she's on a date?!

EJ opened the car door for her and asked to hold her hand as they walked to the entrance. So far the nights already been great, but like all good things it came to an end.

She frowned when she saw a head of bushy hair that she's become far too familiar with sitting by the entrance with that same cheerleader from Howie's party. He looked almost as if he had been waiting for her the way he got up when he saw her.

"Oh my god Nini, what're you doing here?" He asks using his acting tone that she always had the ability to pick up.

"To watch a movie like literally everyone else here."

Nini was not amused by him. He knew damn well she was having this date tonight, and she wanted it to be perfect.

He smirked. "Oo someone's feisty tonight."

EJ cleared his throat to ease the tension. "It's Ricky right?"

Ricky's smirk fell just for a second as he scanned EJ, but he quickly painted a fake smile. "In the flesh, and you are?"

"EJ Caswell, quarterback. We have a few classes together actually."

Ricky pretended to ponder. "Hm doesn't ring a bell. I guess you're just not within my radar. The school's just so damn big that it's hard to keep up, you know?"

EJ wasn't used to not being noticed, and something tells Nini that Ricky knew that. Nini wrapped her hand around EJ's arm. "Well if you don't mind we're gonna go to our movie. Okay bye."

"Oh what movie were you guys about to see?"

"It's none of y-

"We're gonna see some chick flick in theater 6." EJ cuts off.

Nini screamed on the inside because EJ had no idea what he had just done. So much for a nice night.

"What're the odds? So were we! We can sit next to each other. It'll be like a double date."

Maggie looked at him confused. "Oh wait we're actually gonna watch a movie? I thought we were-

Ricky put a finger to her lips. "That's for later. For now, we're gonna watch some romance film. Better hurry in before it starts."

Ricky grabbed Maggie's hand and led her to the theater. Nini scowled at Ricky as EJ dragged her along to their seats. Ricky made sure he was sitting right next to Nini. He gave her a mock smile, and she gave him a death glare.

She tried her best not to focus her attention on Ricky, but it was almost impossible when he'd always find a way to get her to focus on him. While the movie was playing, EJ had wrapped his arm around Nini. She happily rested her head against him.

She felt something crawling on her leg causing her to jump out of his arms. She turned to glare at Ricky when she saw his hand was close to her thigh.

"What?"

She had a feeling he'd play stupid. She rolled her eyes and leaned into EJ's arm deciding to ignore this.

EJ looked down at her and began playing with her hair. Ricky was very much aware of how much Nini likes her hair played with. He's pretty sure he knew every hair trick she likes from plenty of experience.

EJ started closing the distance between them, but right before they could she feels something fall in her lap. She saw a bunch of sour patch kids lying in her lap. She glowered at Ricky already knowing he was the culprit.

"Oops my hand just kinda spasms. You know how it is."

She picked up one of the candies and flicked it at him. "No, I can't say I relate."

"It's pretty common. Look it up." He pops one of the candies in his mouth while maintaining eye contact with her.

Nini knew he'd just find some way to disrupt if she tried to kiss EJ again, so she just unraveled herself from his arms and settled for holding hands. But I guess that was just far too much contact for Ricky.

He "accidentally" pours some of his water on their hand making them jump at the cold sensation. That was the last straw for her. She stood up from her seat and flared her nostrils at Ricky.

"You know what? I can't deal with you right now. EJ, we're leaving."

She pulled EJ up from his spot and began dragging him out of the theater.

"So are we." Ricky hopped up from his seat with Maggie following behind.

Nini and EJ sped walked out of the theater, but Ricky was able to catch up with them before they could get in EJ's car.

"Leaving so soon? I thought we were having fun."

Nini stopped and cussed under her breath. She looked up at EJ. "Hey can you wait in the car? I just gotta handle him real quick."

"Yeah of course."

She waited for him to close the door before facing Ricky. Maggie noticed the hostility rising from Nini and felt like she shouldn't be anywhere near them when she goes off on Ricky.

"Hey Ricky, can you give me your keys? I'll just wait there until you're done."

He doesn't say anything as he tosses her his keys. Nini storms right up to him, and he's sure he's never seen her so angry. He admitted to being a little scared of her right now, but he'd never show that.

"You've got some nerve pulling that stunt."

"What stunt?"

She rolls her eyes. "Don't fucking play dumb. You know _damn_ well what you're doing."

"No I don't know. How about you tell me?"

She shoves his shoulder taking him a little off balance, but not enough for him to fall. "You purposely fucked up my date with EJ you fucking asshole!"

"Yeah so what if I did?!"

She squinted her eyes. "What do you mean so what?! You had no reason to screw up my chance with a guy I really like, and for what? Why would you even care that I'm going out with him?!"

"I told you he's not a good guy! I know his type!"

"Ricky, it's none of your business who I choose to date. If he does turn out to be the person you claim he is, then let me make my own mistakes. But you need to stay the _fuck_ out of my way because you have no right."

He sees angry tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes, and he feels a little bad for being the reason behind them. He's not sure how to respond, but Nini ends their conversation when she walks back to EJ's car.

Ricky watched hopelessly as they drove off to who knows where. He let out a frustrated sigh as he ruffled through his hair. He knew damn well he was actually in the wrong this time, and that she was for sure going to give him more hell than usual next time she sees him.

He hears a car horn honk and sees Maggie waving at him. "Hey are we gonna hook up or what?"

For a second, he totally forgot he had brought someone along. "Yeah sure."

***

The following week had been a warzone between the two, and god bless the poor unfortunate souls who'd end up in the crossfire.

They had been bickering and fighting more than usual during their music class and when they saw each other. Most of the time, their peers wouldn't mind the banter finding it somewhat amusing, but this was different. This was venomous, nasty, and vengeful.

Their fights during the transition between practices were the most intense sense there were no coaches around to stop them, and their teammates wouldn't even dare to come between them.

Nini would always play more aggressively during their practices after a feud with him. It was good for scoring, but not for concentration and teamwork. This aggression had gone on for two whole weeks, and her friends decided it was time to speak up.

After practice, they had pulled her aside.

"What's up?"

They all looked at each other trying to figure out who should ask first. Gina ended up being the one to speak up.

"What's going on between you and Ricky?"

Nini's face fell at the sound of his name. "Same old song and dance. He says something smart, I yell at him. Why?"

"Well it seems like you've been more on edge with him. Did something happen?" Seb asks.

Nini folds her arms, and she can feel the anger coming over her at the reminder of him ruining her date. "Nothing, he's just been acting more like an asshole than usual. That's all."

Carlos wasn't buying that weak excuse. "I've never seen you two go at it like that. I mean, there was a time last week where I was convinced you were gonna punch him."

"He would've deserved it."

Kourtney rested her hand on Nini's upper arm. "Maybe you should try to talk to him about whatever went down between you two because it's starting to get out of hand."

She almost laughed at the thought of talking to an unreasonable person. Ricky was not known for his amazing speaking skills, and she was sure it'd just end up with them trying to bite their heads off.

"As if."

"Nini..."

"Hey I'm gonna go practice a little more before the track kids come. I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?"

She doesn't wait for a response before she's running back to the field. She doesn't have to look behind her to know that her friends are watching her with concern. She felt bad for cutting them off, but she really didn't feel like explaining that night.

They'd probably start asking about Ricky and find out their little arrangement. She shivered just thinking about them finding out. She stayed on the field scoring almost every shot trying her best to not think of that damned lacrosse player.

***

Nini had been sitting in the library peacefully listening to her music as she scrolled through her phone. She hears a banging like noise from one of the shelves. She at first was gonna ignore it, but the noise kept distracting her so she decided to check it out.

She peeked over to see who was making all that ruckus and had to make a double take when she saw the culprits. There stood EJ making out with some girl she's unfamiliar with. She could see him sneak his hand up her shirt eliciting a moan from her.

Nini's heart dropped. She really thought he was interested in her. She cleared her throat to get their attention. EJ bulged his eyes out at the sight of her.

"Uh Nini hey."

Nini held her hand up. "Stop. Whatever you're about to say doesn't really matter."

"Come on Neens, don't be like that."

"Lose my number."

And on that note, she stormed out of the library. She waited until she was sure she was alone in the hallway before letting out her tears. She felt her phone vibrate and already knew it was EJ most likely trying to apologize or explain himself, but she wasn't in the mood for lame excuses. She felt so stupid.

"Nini?"

She stopped for a minute at the sound of her name. She looked to see Ricky standing over her with a lost yet alarmed expression. Great, exactly what she needed. Her nemesis watching her when she's weak.

"Go away. I don't need you to see me cry."

Instead of walking away, he sits beside her on the floor. "What happened?"

Nini refused to look at him ashamed of being seen like this and the fact that he was right. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you're crying, and don't even try giving me some bullshit excuse."

She sniffled and wiped away some tears. "Why do you care so much? I thought we were supposed to hate each other."

He sighed. "We may have a rivalry, but that doesn't mean I get off to seeing you cry. Not even I'm that demented."

She brings her knees to her chest. "Demented is a big word for you Bowen."

He bit the inside of his cheek. "Damn even when you're crying you find time to insult me. That's pretty impressive Sal-Robs."

That got a smile out of her. "You should know by now that I don't let my guard down."

He made an amused face but was still curious what made her so upset. "Why're you crying Nini?"

She should've known he'd ask again. "You're gonna taunt me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you taunt me all the time and this is very much a time where you would say I told you so."

"Try me."

She gets a message, but she looks at it this time. She sees it's EJ and tosses the phone to the side. Ricky picked it up and read the message that said "can we talk? I can explain". Ah, now it was all coming together.

"What'd EJ do?"

She hid her head in her arms not wanting to see his face when she told him. "You were right about him."

"You caught him with someone else?"

She just nodded. She mentally prepared for him to say I told you so, laugh at her, or try to make her feel like some naïve girl, but he does none of those things. Instead he rest his hand on top of hers.

She lifts her head up and stares at his hand before shifting her eyes to his. He actually looks kind and sympathetic, which was so completely out of character of him that she thought she was dreaming it for a second.

"Honestly he's a dick, and you could do better."

That was not at all what she was expecting to hear from Ricky Bowen of all people. "I feel stupid for crying over someone who doesn't give shit about me."

"Don't feel stupid for crying. I'd probably be upset too."

"That helps a little."

They sat there in silence not really sure how to move on from this. Ricky claps rather loudly before getting up from his spot. "Well I should probably return to my class before Mr. Mazzara comes looking for me. It's not like I have the best track record with him."

"Yeah you should probably do that."

"You sure you'll be alright?"

She nods. "Yeah I'll be fine. Now go before he sends a search party."

He smirks as he begins walking away.

"Hey Ricky?"

He pauses and turns his head over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

She gives him a genuine smile. "Thanks, really."

He just grins back before speed walking to his classroom.

She smiles to herself feeling herself calm down a bit. She gets another text from EJ, and quickly blocks his number before turning off her phone.

(When her friends find out what EJ did, Ashlyn apologized profusely on behalf of her cousin and promised to smack some sense into him when she saw him).

***

They don't bicker as much, but they still don't pass up the chance to tease one another. It accidentally comes off more flirtatious, but neither really notice it.

They don't talk about that moment in the hall, but it's obvious that that moment they shared influenced their already odd relationship.

Their friends are happy that they aren't fighting like they used to, but they wondered what on earth made them have such a change of heart.

Gina noticed that Nini had been less hostile in general around Ricky, and Ricky had been more touchy when he'd tease her. Ashlyn caught Nini smirking after Ricky said something smart instead of spitting a smart remark.

Kourtney and Nini had been chilling in her room. Kourtney had been dying to ask her about her and Ricky. Not really knowing how to address this topic without beating around the bush, she just went for the kill.

"So, you and Ricky."

Nini stopped typing on her computer and looked at her with a mildly afraid expression.

"Uh what about me and Ricky?"

Nini was afraid that Kourtney may have somehow found out about her fling. Oh god what she must think she's lost her mind.

"You and him have been kinda tame recently."

She lets out a breath of relief. "Oh yeah I guess we kinda have."

"Care to explain why?"

She tried to come up with something that would get her off her ass, but honestly _she_ didn't even know what the hell was going on between her and Ricky. Sure they still poked fun at each other, but honestly she doesn't really hate him like she used to.

"We're still enemies."

"Are you?"

"Yeah, we still get under each others skin."

"It doesn't look like that to me."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Whatever you say Neens."

Desperately wanting to change the subject, Nini opened Netflix to The Vampire Diaries. "Now if you're done interrogating, I'd love to watch Damon Salvatore rip his shirt off."

Kourtney forgets what they were even talking about when she sees the cast on the screen. "I know you're using this to misdirect the convo, but I'll allow it this one time since Damon is on the screen. Just so you know this convo isn't over though."

"Yeah, yeah."

***

Ricky's dad was out of town for the weekend for a wedding, so he figured he should take advantage of the empty space. He invited her over in the afternoon so they could spend a lot of hours under one another. They haven't slept with each other since that time in Mazzara's classroom, so he was actually pretty excited to see her.

She arrives with a baggy Spiderman t-shirt and sweats. It's almost impossible not to notice her nipples poking out of her shirt, and he wouldn't put it past her if she wasn't wearing panties. He can't even recall a time where she looked so comfortable for a hook up.

Since they knew they wouldn't be interrupted, they were a lot less aggressive and rushed with their touches. They've never been this relaxed and gentle, and he actually liked it a little more than their usual style.

He's kissing her slowly enjoying the fact that he can take his time with her. She keeps scrunching up his shirt, so he pulls it off. He collides his lips with hers letting his tongue explore her mouth.

He took this opportunity to slide his hand under her t-shirt. He rubbed his fingers on her nipple giving it a twist. She breaks the kiss and smirks. He was about to duck down to begin kissing along her neck, but she surprises him by flipping them so that she's on top.

He watched as she steadily removed her t-shirt. He immediately grabbed her waist and positioned it right above his groin. His hands slowly roamed up her sides. Right before he was about to cup her, she smacked his hands away.

She hovers over her body over his and starts nibbling on his neck. He's never seen her take control since she usually liked being submissive, but he wasn't opposed to it either.

She trails her kisses down to his chest, and she stops to suck on his nipple. He jumps at the feeling of her lips. He's never had his nipples sucked and was stunned at how sensitive they were. She kisses all across his chest, and he's sure he's never had his body touched like this.

She licks up his chest and stops when she reaches his neck. He pulls her into a hug and grinds his hips against her center. He presses her hips down firmly on his hardened shaft, and he's never wanted to rip clothes off of someone so much in his life.

He sits up and kisses her letting his hands finally cup her breast. He gave her nipples a quick flick before picking her up and getting off of the bed. He set her down only pausing their kiss to yank her sweatpants down.

As he expected, she wasn't wearing any underwear and man was he happy about that. He realizes this is the first time she's been completely naked in front of him. He gave her a quick kiss before getting on his knees. He pulled her closer to his mouth by the hips before diving into her.

She moans as he goes straight for the kill knowing exactly the spot that drives her wild. She grabs one of her breast while the other hand pushes his head further into her. She's dripping down on his face already soaked from the earlier activities and the building tension.

He steadily inserts two of his fingers into her curving them so it hits her cervix. He begins pumping into her as his tongue did wonders on her. She was amazed she was even able to stand up straight.

She was panting erratically; she doesn't remember his skills being this good but she's not complaining. He looks up at her as he continues to please her. She looked so fucking sexy as she moaned shamelessly letting his name slip out every once in a while.

He thinks he could do this for the rest of his life just to see her completely lose herself to pleasure. He felt himself throbbing in his briefs and decided he can make her scream his name in better ways.

He gave her a few more licks before removing himself from her. He pulled down his briefs releasing his member. She wanted to wrap her lips around it, but her wishes wouldn't be granted anytime soon because he's scooping her up from the ground.

She assumed he'd take her to the bed, but instead he took her to the wall. He aligned his shaft with her hole but only to tease her by rubbing it around it. She tried to push herself down on him, but he'd just smirk and pull away.

She groaned when he'd deny her causing him to laugh at her eagerness ~~and cuteness~~. He finally let her place herself on his tip, and he slid into her. They both let out their own blissful moans as he filled her up.

He rarely looks her in the eye when they hook up, but for some reason it felt right. He began thrusting into her roughly knowing neither were really fans of going slow. He glanced at her plump lips and pressed his mouth against hers.

He sped up his motions a little more resulting in her moaning louder into his mouth. He always loved when she did that, but he loved it more when she was screaming openly.

He detached their lips and focused on pounding into her wanting her to yell for him. She clawed her nails into his back and placed her chin on his shoulder. He inched his lips towards her ear.

"Scream for me."

She struggled to get any words out between the moans and his pumps. "M-make me."

He never did back down from a challenge. He took himself out of her and let her feet hit the floor. She whined at the loss of him inside her, but then he spun her around and penetrated her.

She let out a squawk at the sudden intrusion. He didn't hold back wanting to urgently hear her cries of pleasure. He rested his body on hers as he thrusted into her with all his power. It took him biting onto her shoulder and rubbing her clit to make her scream.

"Oh my god Ricky, _fuck yes_."

He has her all around his room. He laid her out on his bed, on his door, and on the floor. She was currently riding him on his bed. Finally not being able to contain himself any longer, he felt himself coming to a climax.

"Babe, I'm almost there."

She blushes at the random name of endearment, but tries to push it in the back of her mind since there were more important things to focus on. She hopped off of him and wrapped her lips around him.

He muffled his moan as she bobbed her head expertly on him. She sucked and licked the way he loved. He grabbed a fist full of her hair as he finished in her mouth. She continued sucking him until there were no juices left. She crawled up on top of him and rested her head on his chest.

He gave her a kiss on the head that made her smile ~~and it may or may not have made her heart skip a beat~~. They just lied there resting after that work out. She drew little patterns into his chest as he stroked through her hair. A little after, they end up lulling into sleep.

He wakes up first, and he forgets for a second that she had slept with him in his bed. He realizes that he's never slept next to any girl after sex. After looking at how peaceful and serene Nini looked resting on his chest, he figured he'd make an exception for her.

He doesn't remember her being this comfortable with him or how beautiful she actually was. Sure he was aware she was attractive; he wouldn't be sleeping with someone he didn't find appealing.

She stirs in her sleep and lets out a yawn waking her up in the process. She flutters her lashes until her vision is clear. She's greeted with a smile from him, and she can't fight the grin that forms on her face.

"Hey you." His voice is raspy.

"Hi."

"Slept well?"

"Your chest is surprisingly a good substitute for a pillow."

He smiles before pecking her head. She blushes and rolls off of him. She climbs out of the bed and reaches for her clothes.

"Where are you going?"

She looked at him woolly. "Oh um I thought I was overstaying my welcome. I was just gonna head out."

He pulls the sheets back and hops out of bed. "You can stay a little longer." He realizes how weird that was coming out of his mouth and began blushing when he saw her face. "That is if you want to of course."

She smirks when she sees how nervous he was thinking it was pretty cute. "Have you never asked someone to stay before?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little bit." She chuckled. "Yeah I'll stay."

"Really?" He seemed a little shocked she took him up on his offer.

"Yeah why not? I have nothing to do for the rest of the day, and my moms think I'm at Gina's anyway."

"Cool." He put on some sweats.

"I'm actually pretty hungry; can we eat something before we have a round two?"

"I have some frozen pizza in my freezer."

"Sounds good." She reaches put on her t-shirt and realized how dirty it was. "Can I use your washing machine and borrow a shirt? My clothes reek."

"Sure." He went in his drawer and threw a random t-shirt at her. She chuckled when she saw what was on it.

"So you're a Pokémon fan huh?"

His face reddens when he realizes which shirt he gave her. "Uh that's an old shirt from like 6th grade."

"You must've been a large middle schooler."

"I was an early bloomer."

"Sure Bowen. I'm gonna go take that pizza out; see you downstairs Ash Ketchum."

He rolled his eyes playfully as he watched her walk out of the room.

She ends up being better company than he thought. Turns out, she's actually pretty cool and fun to talk to. He can't help but wonder how different their relationship would've been had he not put that damn gum in her hair all those years ago.

They ended up having a lot in common. They already knew they both liked music since that was an elective they chose to take. As the pizza was baking in the oven, Ricky had turned on the Greatest Showman soundtrack throwing Nini off.

"Holy shit, you like the Greatest Showman?"

"Why does that shock you so much?"

"You don't seem like the type to be into musicals."

"And what exactly does a person who likes musicals normally look like?"

"You got me there." She hops onto the counter. "What's your favorite musical?"

"Imma have to go with Newsies."

She scrunches her nose in distaste. "Newsies, really? You can do better."

He makes a mock offended face. "Excuse me, but that's a work of art."

She shakes her head. "There's just no flavor to that musical."

He smirks as he places both hands on the counter with her in between. "Well since you seem to have such an exquisite taste in musicals, why don't you tell me your favorite?"

"Mean Girls, hands down."

He scoffs. "Mean Girls? I mean sure it has some good numbers but over Newsies?"

"I said what I said."

"I can't believe I slept with someone with no taste in musicals."

She gapes her mouth open and lightly hit his shoulder. "You take that back!"

"I'm sorry princess, but facts are facts."

He poked her side causing her to jump. He laughed at her, and she began trying to poke his side too. He just dodged her and eventually grabbed both her hands and pulled her close to his chest.

When their eyes meet, their playful mood slowly became lustful. He cups her face and presses his lips against hers. She wraps her arms around his neck and deepens the kiss. He was about to grab her waist but was disrupted by the sound of the oven beeping loudly.

He groaned when she detached their lips and tried to pull her into another kiss, but she hopped off the counter before he could. He never thought he'd be disappointed about food being done until now.

They eat their pizza and decided on watching the Greatest Showman. During the movie, they end up debating on whether "This is me" or "Come Alive" were the better song.

Neither really end up settling it because Nini is climbing into his lap and leaving marks across his neck to make him shut up, and he decides he doesn't mind being hushed like this.

They end up having a few more rounds all throughout the night, and both don't even notice how much time had gone by. She ends up being too tired to drive, and Ricky didn't want her driving in that state ~~and he really loved her company~~.

She texts her mom quickly before they make their way to his bedroom. They kiss tenderly throughout the night until both of their eyes become heavy.

Ricky pulls her into a spooning position and gives her a few more kisses on her shoulder before letting sleep overcome him. She couldn't stop fiddling with the ring on his finger as he slept finding it somewhat therapeutic as she pondered the day's events.

She knew something had changed between them today. She wasn't sure what, but she does know that she liked being in his arms and talking to him as equals instead of enemies.

This feels right.

***

Carlos and Seb walked hand in hand as they exited the building. Carlos had to go pick up the jacket he left on the field. Seb stopped walking and gasped at the sight in front of them. Carlos followed his eyesight and made the same expression.

Across the parking lot stood Ricky and Nini talking by her car. But they looked _happy_ and Nini had been smiling in a non-snarky way. Ricky had looked like he was really interested in whatever Nini was saying.

She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him into a hug. He's a little thrown off at first but eventually embraces her. Carlos and Seb don't miss the genuine smile on his lips.

When they pull away, Carlos notices their fingers lingered as they entered their separate cars.

"Are my eyes tripping, or did we just witness Ricky and Nini hugging?" Seb asks.

"Okay, so you saw that too?"

"When the hell did they start being civil?"

Carlos gasped. "Do you think that he's the guy that's been giving her those hickeys?"

"Holy fuck."

"Should we tell her we saw her?"

Seb shook his head. "Honestly, if she wanted us to know she would've said something."

"I guess you're right. Hets are so complicated; it's exhausting witnessing them sometimes. Glad I have you babe." Carlos pecked Seb's cheek.

Seb blushed. "You too babe."

***

Ricky had been practicing lacrosse alone in the field. He had a big game coming up and wanted to make sure all his moves were intact. He had been blasting his playlist as he shot the ball into the net.

"I should've known you'd be here."

He drops his stick by accident at the voice. He sees Nini laughing at him, and he feels his heart beat quicken at the sight of her. He had been feeling differently about her since she spent the night three weeks ago.

He found himself wanting to get to know her and be around her in general. He can see her being a potential friend that he happened to be a little attracted to.

"Of course I'm here. Gotta get ready for the big game in a few weeks." He notices she's not in soccer attire, which meant she had no intention on practicing today. "What're you doing here?"

She shrugged as she bounced on her heels. "I happened to be walking past and thought I saw you. Figured it'd be rude not to say hello."

Ricky's lip turned into a smirk. "Ah you wanted to say hi to me? How cute."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll leave right now." She began backing up, but he pulled her back by her wrist.

"Don't go. You're peculiarly good company."

"Did Ricky Bowen just compliment me? I never thought I'd see the day."

"It's whatever you want it to be babe."

She blushed at the pet name. She had been meaning to talk about him calling her that the night at his house. "You called me that again."

He rose a brow. "Called you what again?"

"You called me babe. You said it at your house a few weeks ago too."

He scratched the back of his neck and stared at the ground in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"No, I don't mind it."

He looked back up at her. "You don't?"

"No, I uh actually kinda like it more than princess or sweetheart."

He smiles when he sees how red her cheeks got. "Then I'll try to call you it more."

They gaze into each other's eyes, and Nini clears her throat to stop the intensity.

"So how do you work that stick of yours?"

He resisted the urge to make a dirty joke. He held up his lacrosse stick. "This old thing? It's pretty easy actually. Wanna learn?"

"Sure."

He puts the ball in the net and showed her how to make a goal. She misses the first few times, but he doesn't make her feel bad about it. On her sixth try, she finally scores a goal. She gets so excited that she ran and jumped into Ricky's arms.

He makes a toothy grin as he holds her close to him. When she pulls away, she catches his eye. He glances at her lips, and she does the same. He rubs up her back and starts slowly leaning down.

She gets on her tippy toes to meet him halfway. The second her lips came in contact with his she felt a jolt of electricity go through her body. This kiss wasn't like the ones they normally shared.

No, this was sweet and made her head fuzzy. This made her want to write songs in her book. This was what formed butterflies in her stomach and made her feel like she was flying.

When they break apart, they rest their heads on each other and gaze into one another's eyes. She can feel his heart beating rapidly against her chest and notices hers is doing the same.

Uh oh.

***

Big Red wasn't as oblivious as everyone made him out to be, especially when it came to his best friend. He notices Ricky's interactions with his enemy if he can even call her that now.

He doesn't miss the longing stares in the hallway or across the lunch room. He sees when they find subtle ways to touch each other. He sees how happy he's been recently.

Big Red sees Nini sit down in her usual spot between Kourtney and Ashlyn in the lunch room, and he looks over at Ricky who happened to be staring in that direction.

"Ricky."

Ricky jumps a bit as if he hadn't registered that he was there. "What's up?"

"You seem really relaxed nowadays."

"I guess you could say so."

"Is it maybe because of her?" Big Red notions over to Nini.

Ricky follows his eyesight and blushes. "W-why would you ask that?"

Red shrugs. "I don't know man. You guys have seemed pretty comfortable with each other. I can't even recall a time where you went at it with her. You usually smile a lot when you see her now."

"She and I are civil."

Red picked his ear to make sure he heard him right. "Wait so you guys are like friends now? When the hell did that happen?"

Ricky shrugs as if this wasn't a big deal. "A month or so ago. We realized we actually had a lot in common and just kinda stopped yelling at each other."

"Wow I never thought there'd be a day."

Ricky looks back at Nini. "Yeah, me neither."

Nini looked up and met eyes with Ricky and beams. He does the same and felt his heart glow.

Big Red doesn't miss the blush and cheesy smile he got when he saw Nini. _Friends my ass._

***

Ricky sees her enter the class and perks up immediately. He hates that his last name was on the opposite side of the alphabet as hers because he'd love to sit next to her.

When she sits in her seat, she glances over at Ricky and waves at him with her award winning smile. It was insane how beautiful she was. They had plans to hang out at his house later, and he couldn't wait to hold her in his arms and debate on whatever song or musical is better.

The entire class he doesn't really pay attention. He catches himself glimpsing over at Nini and if she saw him he'd just blush and laugh awkwardly.

While their teacher was writing on the board, she texts him an article titled "Why Mean Girls: the Musical is one of the best musicals of all time." He had to muffle his laugh and fake it as a cough when he read the title.

Sitting in this raggedy desk in the back of a classroom, he realized right then and there that Nini Salazar-Roberts was it for him.

***

Nini texted him in the beginning of the day that she wanted to hook up in the piano room, and he of course agreed. He began reminiscing on their first time all those months ago. It's amazing how far they've come since then.

In August, they could barely stomach being in the same room with each other. Now, they would do anything to spend just a few more minutes alone.

Ever since he realized he wanted to be with her, he's been trying his best to go about telling her. He was a little scared how she'd react since he wasn't sure how she felt about him. She obviously liked him as a sexual partner and a friend, but that doesn't mean she'd date him.

He gets there a few minutes before her and patiently waits on the piano bench. He mindlessly played keys as he got lost in his thoughts. He knew he'd eventually tell her because he's always sucked at hiding his true feelings.

He made a last minute decision to just rip the band-aid off. If she doesn't feel the same, he can just continue being her friend. If she does, then they can be together. Either way, he knew he had to do this.

He hears the door open and beams when she walks in. She closes and locks the door behind her.

She put her stuff aside and sped walked to him. She plopped down beside him and wrapped him into a hug. He slowly snaked his arms around her.

She released him to peck his cheek. "Hey."

He gazed into her eyes. "Hey babe."

She rest her hand on his chest. "Shall we start? I think Ms. Jenn will be coming in like 45 minutes."

"Actually can I tell you something first?"

She became a little worried. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah it's nothing bad, or at least I think it's not."

"That's not making me feel better."

"It's nothing bad I swear."

He takes her hand in his and takes a deep breath. It's now or never.

"Nini, I've loved spending these past few months with you. I'm not just talking about the sex, not that that wasn't good too because _damn_ did I enjoy every time. I'm getting side tracked. I just wanted to say that I realized that somewhere in between all the kisses, joking, teasing, and fighting I ended up falling for you."

She gasped and gaped.

"It's alright if you don't return the feelings. I'd be okay with just being your friend, but it'd definitely take a while for me to get over someone as amazing as you. As long as you're in my life, I'm happy."

Her lip began quivering and her eyes began to water. He wasn't expecting to make her cry. He felt himself begin to panic.

"I'm sorry I didn't-

She jumps onto him and smashes their lips together. He almost fell out of the chair at the impact but gained his balance in time. He kissed her back with just as much passion. He felt himself smile as he kissed the girl he adores.

She pulls back and holds his face in her hands. "I'm all yours Ricky. I have been for a while now."

He feels himself fall harder for the beautiful girl in his arms and pulls her closer. "I want to take you on a proper date."

"As long as I get to choose the playlist to listen to in the car."

"It better not be the Mean Girls soundtrack."

"Maybe this won't work out."

He chuckles as he brings her in for another kiss. He broke the kiss when he remembered another thing.

"Oh before I forget, do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

She responded by kissing him.

"That's a yes right?"

She giggled as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes, dummy."

***

Their friends all find out at the same time a week later.

Ricky and his team had been playing one of the biggest games of the year. It was neck and neck the entire time, and everyone was hanging on the edge of their seats.

Nini had gone to the game to support him. Her friends liked going to the lacrosse games and were shocked to see Nini come. They didn't really ask her why she randomly decided to join figuring that maybe she just wanted to feel included with them.

Nini didn't know too much about lacrosse, but she knew just enough to cheer when necessary and some of the terminology. She purposely wore the colors of the team, and she'd cheer extra loud when Ricky would score.

In the last few minutes of the game, the score board read 50-50. Nini had tapped her foot nervously and felt her hands become sweaty. If she was this nervous, she can't imagine what Ricky was feeling.

The players were playing fiercely trying to ensure they were the victors. One of the players from the opposing team accidentally slipped, and Ricky was able to scoop it up before the others. Nini clapped as she watched her boyfriend run to the goal.

The crowd was going nuts as he sprinted to the goal. Seconds before he was about to shoot, an opposing player begins to shove him. Ricky looked at the clock. 10 seconds left. He was only a few inches away from the goal. He can do this.

He flung the ball at the goal just before the other player tripped him. He tumbled a bit as he watched the ball fly threw the air. The goalie tried to block it, but fell before he could reach it. The ball hit the net, and Ricky almost didn't believe his own eyes.

The crowd went wild and his teammates began running towards him. Big Red hugs him first and the other players follow suit. He gets a series of thanks and praises and has to run before Gatorade can be poured on him. He never was a fan of that dumb tradition.

He escaped the herd of sweaty players around him and began approaching the bleachers looking for a certain 5'5 brunette. He doesn't see her in the bleachers anywhere and becomes confused.

Suddenly, someone hugged him from behind. When he saw the manicured nails and the ring she stole from him, he immediately knew who it was. He spun around and hugged her back.

"You were incredible baby!"

"I guess I helped."

"Oh stop that little humble act."

He smirks. "Does the captain get a little prize for winning?"

She nods. "He does, and he'll get a bonus later on tonight too."

"Can't wait."

He picks her up and kisses her in the middle of the field. They can hear some people wolf whistling or cheering. He can overhear Red losing his damn mind behind him and tries his best not to laugh.

As he kisses the girl of his dreams, he thinks that this is the closest he's ever been to experiencing serendipity. All he knows right now is that in this moment, he was exactly where he was supposed to be in the arms of the right person. And that he was definitely going to say those three words to her sometime in the future.

***

_Love and hate are visceral. Your stomach twists at the thought of that person. The heart in your chest beats heavy and bright._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm starting to remember why I don't do long ass ones often. This took forever to make, but I loved making it.
> 
> Hope you liked it!
> 
> Quote is from The Hating Game.


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